1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to intelligent drive arrays, and more particularly to systems for monitoring the performance of such intelligent drive arrays.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
Intelligent drive arrays are well known. For example, the COMPAQ SYSTEMPRO Personal Computer System which is manufactured by the assignee of the present invention offers the flexibility to be configured to meet a wide range of user needs, and is available in several standard model configurations each of which includes an intelligent drive array controller that is adaptable to two-drive, four-drive, six-drive and eight-drive arrays. Further information regarding a COMPAQ SYSTEMPRO Personal Computer System can be found in Technical Reference Guide: COMPAQ SYSTEMPRO Personal Computer System, Volumes I and II, Compaq Computer Corporation (1989), which are incorporated herein by reference.
One perceived problem with the above-noted COMPAQ SYSTEMPRO Personal Computer System, in spite of its overwhelming capabilities to process information, is its relative lack of information storage space. It has been suggested, therefore, that an intelligent array expansion system be provided to fully utilize the capabilities of file servers such as the COMPAQ SYSTEMPRO Personal Computer System.
Managers of such file servers must constantly supervise the system to ensure that it meets the needs of its users. One certain aspect which needs to be monitored is the performance of the system information storage means (e.g., the intelligent drive arrays which are used in the COMPAQ SYSTEMPRO Personal Computer System, or other such intelligent array expansion systems which may be used). The primary purpose of monitoring the storage means is to record and provide information which may be used to identify a performance degradation or, more cautiously, to predict a catastrophic hardware problem.